Companies in Asia/Pacific region not prepared for U.S. and UK bribery laws

Compliance is an issue that is getting more and more attention these days (see Wal-Mart, Tyco, etc.). So it’s alarming to find out that most companies in Asia and the Pacific have not performed risk assessments on their vulnerability to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and its British cousin, the U.K. Bribery Act.

A recent study by Kroll Advisory Solutions that surveyed 200 senior executives at Asia-Pacific companies found that only 48.7 percent of these companies had thoroughly assessed their vulnerability to enforcement of those two acts. Earlier in 2012, another study by Kroll found that more than 70 percent of companies in Asia and the Pacific believed they were at risk for corruption and bribery.

“In Asia, internal compliance and legal teams are often not suitably staffed or experienced to handle a serious whistleblower allegation, and they don’t always know what to do when accusations are made,” Penelope Lepeudry, Kroll’s managing director of Southeast Asia, said in a press release.